Shoplifting

Yolanda Quesada received recognition rewards, service excellence pins and other accolades over the last five years for her work as a customer service representative in the home mortgage department of Wells Fargo. Then suddenly last week, she was fired. The bank had found that Quesada had been arrested for shoplifting 40 years ago when she was 18, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which first reported the story. The bank said it has no choice but to sever ties with employees found to have certain types of criminal records.

A 17-year-old girl could face charges in connection with the death of her fetus that she carried in a shopping bag while allegedly trying to steal goods from a Victoria's Secret store, New York police said Friday. The Brooklyn girl, and her friend, also 17, of Queens were arrested Thursday night at the Manhattan lingerie store on suspicion of shoplifting. Both are in custody and have been charged with petit larceny and possession of stolen property, according to the New York Police Department.

Stung by a new breed of sophisticated thieves, the nation's major retailers are fighting back. These well-organized crime rings have added tough new challenges for merchants who have long contended with petty shoplifters and their own light-fingered employees. Although those concerns remain, retail chains today are plagued by gangs of highly specialized thieves who steal thousands of dollars of merchandise at a time and sell the goods for profit. There are groups of thieves who make fake price tags, put them on merchandise and purchase the items at a fraction of the actual price.

A veteran Los Angeles County Probation Department officer assigned to aid in the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders has been placed on unpaid leave after being arrested on suspicion that she contributed to the delinquency of her own children. Ruth Marzan, an officer with more than two decades with the department, was arrested by sheriff's deputies May 25 at a Kmart in Temple City after security personnel alleged that they saw her shoplift items and coach her two teenage children to do the same.

While many merchants prefer not to discuss shoplifting, retailers in Washington take a different approach. Each year from September through Christmas, they support a public campaign aimed at curbing shoplifting. Organized by the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the $1.5-million campaign features ads on television, radio, billboards and in newspapers and magazines.

Anne Droid looks like a typical mannequin, except for an unusual twinkle in one eye. That twinkle means Anne Droid can "see" you. She can also "hear" and even "remember." Anne Droid is a surveillance mannequin designed to watch for shoplifters, an idea that has caught the eye of some retailers. "My wife is a jeweler," says F. Jerry Gutierrez, Anne Droid's creator. "We were in a jewelry store and they had a TV monitor set up, but I couldn't find the camera.

Kaushik began shoplifting gum balls at age 7 and eventually graduated to carbonated beverages, books, expensive name-brand deodorant and hair gel, usually from high-end malls. He didn't need to swipe the merchandise; his family was comfortably middle class. But Kaushik, now 28, relished the adrenaline rush and his ability to look calm as his heart raced. "It's totally the thrill, the sense of power of hoodwinking the security," said the New Delhi media employee, who would give only his first name, adding that he had quit stealing six years ago. "I had no moral dilemma, only concern over the legal ramifications if I got caught.

A 17-year-old girl could face charges in connection with the death of her fetus that she carried in a shopping bag while allegedly trying to steal goods from a Victoria's Secret store, New York police said Friday. The Brooklyn girl, and her friend, also 17, of Queens were arrested Thursday night at the Manhattan lingerie store on suspicion of shoplifting. Both are in custody and have been charged with petit larceny and possession of stolen property, according to the New York Police Department.

A woman suspected of shoplifting died in a struggle with security guards outside a drugstore in the third such death in the Detroit area in less than a year. The woman, whose name was not released, was detained by guards inside the store after she tried to leave with $200 worth of merchandise, police said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death.

During a three-day operation dubbed Operation Spring Cleaning, Long Beach Police swept up 71 people involved in organized shoplifting gangs, one of whom had pies and gallons of ice cream hidden in her clothes. Over three days last week, patrol officers from throughout the city along with burglary detectives and 100 loss-prevention specialists at local retailers arrested suspects at 43 stores around town, said Sgt. Robert Woods. Woods said the operation led to 24 felony filings, 42 misdemeanor filings, six juvenile petitions, and 71 civil demand notices issued by each business.

Lancaster retailers that refuse to press charges against shoplifters will risk having their names publicized to entice thieves, the city's mayor, R. Rex Parris, said Tuesday. Parris said the initiative was needed because some retailers believe that the cost of apprehending and prosecuting people who steal outweighs losses from theft. "It's just a balance-sheet issue for them," Parris said in an interview. But the realization that stores won't take legal action emboldens criminals, the mayor said.

By the time Joe Rosenkrantz took his seat in his company's conference room, a video camera had already handled the introductions. An image of Rosenkrantz taken as he walked toward his chair instantly popped up on a nearby TV screen. "FaceFirst has found a possible match," the caption read. "Joe Rosenkrantz, Founder and CEO. " The process took less than a second, a demonstration of a capability that developer FaceFirst says could transform facial-recognition technology into an everyday security tool.

Yolanda Quesada received recognition rewards, service excellence pins and other accolades over the last five years for her work as a customer service representative in the home mortgage department of Wells Fargo. Then suddenly last week, she was fired. The bank had found that Quesada had been arrested for shoplifting 40 years ago when she was 18, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which first reported the story. The bank said it has no choice but to sever ties with employees found to have certain types of criminal records.

Lindsay Lohan will not be appearing in court anymore if she continues to obey the law, a Los Angeles judge told her Thursday after ending the actress' supervised probation on shoplifting and drunk-driving convictions. The hearing put an end to Lohan's five years of criminal court appearances that saw the actress bounce in and out of rehab and jail for violating her probation. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner declared "she did it," in announcing Lohan had completed 480 hours of community service at the county morgue and undergone dozens of therapy sessions.

Reporting from Sacramento -- A California legislator pleaded no contest Friday to charges that she tried to shoplift $2,500 in clothes from Neiman Marcus in San Francisco. As part of a plea deal, a San Francisco County Superior Court judge reduced the charges against Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) from felony grand theft to a misdemeanor. Hayashi was sentenced to three years' probation and $180 in fines and required to stay at least 50 feet from the store on Union Square.

State Agriculture Secretary Penrose Hallowell has been convicted of shoplifting a $4.99 cassette tape from a Sears store in Montgomery Township. District Justice Robert Kulp, calling his decision "the most difficult thing I ever had to do," found Hallowell guilty Thursday on a charge of retail theft and fined him $25. David Runkel, a spokesman for Gov. Dick Thornburgh, said Thornburgh will review the matter to decide "what, if any, action" against Hallowell is appropriate.

Some people call them teacher of the year, family doctor, engineer or Girl Scout leader. Nancy Clark calls them clients. For 15 years, Clark has run a shoplifting addiction treatment program in Newport Beach. Many clients attend in lieu of possible jail or prison sentences. Despite stereotypes about petty thieves snatching items out of financial desperation, many of the people in the program are well-to-do. They see shoplifting as an addiction that gives an endorphin rush on a par with drugs.

Kaushik began shoplifting gum balls at age 7 and eventually graduated to carbonated beverages, books, expensive name-brand deodorant and hair gel, usually from high-end malls. He didn't need to swipe the merchandise; his family was comfortably middle class. But Kaushik, now 28, relished the adrenaline rush and his ability to look calm as his heart raced. "It's totally the thrill, the sense of power of hoodwinking the security," said the New Delhi media employee, who would give only his first name, adding that he had quit stealing six years ago. "I had no moral dilemma, only concern over the legal ramifications if I got caught.

With the Occupy L.A. tent community just steps from the L.A. Mall, one might expect the underground retail center to be reaping the benefits of the growing crowd. But many merchants said it's been more of a headache than a windfall. Salim Virani said his dry-cleaning business has suffered from layoffs in recent months at nearby government facilities downtown, including Los Angeles City Hall. So he wasn't thrilled to have Occupy L.A. campers come by and ask him to clean up to 30 sleeping bags, free of charge.